OpTic Gaming and FaZe Clan emerge victorious from their respective matchups, concluding the list of semi-finalists of ELEAGUE Season 2.
Day two of the playoffs saw OpTic Gaming and FaZe Clan outperform opponents mousesports and Virtus.pro respectively. The North American representatives dealt with the Europeans in swift succession. Only two maps were to be seen between the teams, giving OpTic easy access to the semi-final slot. FaZe Clan, on the other hand, had to fight for their right to remain in the race, as Virtus.pro were not about to concede their placement without a fight and a half.
For a more descriptive idea as to what happened during the matches, we present you a recap of both best-of-three series below:
ELEAGUE Season 2 - Semi-final #3
OpTic Gaming vs. 
mousesports
Winner: OpTic Gaming
Maps: de_Train - 12:3, 4:4 (16:7); de_Cache - 9:6, 7:5 (16:11)
MVP: 
Will "RUSH" Wierzba
Most expected a far close match than what was seen between the North American and European representatives. Only on a single occasion did mousesports secure a double digit score against their opponent.
The day kicked off on de_Train, where we saw an incredibly dominant performance from OpTic Gaming off the get-go. The team demonstrated a commanding T side, where mousesports seldom understood what the next step was in terms of their defence. Advantageous trades and out-aiming the opponent paid off dearly for the team, as they walked away with a 12:3 half time finish, placing the European mix in a pickle and a half. Mousesports attempted their best on the T side; however this was promptly shut down by the North Americans, as they secured an equal amount of four rounds in the second half, closing out the initial map with a fierce 16:7 score.
De_Cache, the final map of the series, saw a closer score line upon conclusion; however consistent with the previous result, OpTic Gaming came out on top. On this occasion OpTic commenced on the defensive side, where the team showed a solid performance, but nothing out of the extraordinary. Mousesports gave it their best shot, unfortunately a lead wasn't secured by the end of the half, with the North American roster sitting at a 9:6 CT side finish. It was now or never for mousesports. Having switched over, the European roster gave it their best shot, which ultimately proved to be insufficient to push the series to a third map. OpTic secure the seven rounds needed to walk away with a semi-finalist slot, whilst mousesports analyse what could've been done better from their hotel rooms.
The North American roster awaits their opponent from the next match-up between FaZe Clan and Virtus.pro.
ELEAGUE Season 2 - Semi-final #4
FaZe Clan vs. 
Virtus.pro
Winner: FaZe Clan
Maps: de_Nuke - 3:12, 1:4 (4:16); de_Overpass - 7:8, 9:2 (16:10); de_Cache - 9:6, 7:8 (16:14)
MVP: 
Philip "aizy" Aistrup
The second series between the two European representatives was far closer than the previous one, with all three maps played out. FaZe Clan emerged as the stronger team in the end, just about whisking away with an incredibly close victory on de_Cache.
The battle for the last semi-finalist slot was to commence on de_Nuke. Virtus.pro demonstrated an absolutely phenomenal performance, whereby the team was seldom challenged by FaZe Clan. The Poles started on the T side of the map, where they pummelled the opponent time and time again with successful site pushes and entry frags. The prior was true throughout the half, concluding with a 12:3 finish in favour of Virtus.pro. At this point FaZe had put themselves in quite the predicament, as it became apparent that they were not prepared for the map. The Poles put the European mix out of misery after securing four rounds to their one and subsequently the match, at an astonishing 16:4.
FaZe Clan realigned their focus and came back on the second map of the series, de_Overpass. The team started off on the T side of affairs and demonstrated a solid performance. Vrtus.pro also showed up in the first half, with a light lead in the form of a single round secured by the end of it. Things drastically changed during the second half, whereby FaZe Clan evolved into an impenetrable shield. Despite various efforts from the Poles, the European mix was stoic and it definitely paid off. A strong CT performance from FaZe put them right back in the game with a 16:10 finish.
The final map of the series was destined to be as close as it can get. Neither team was prepared to give up the semi-final slot without a fight, nor did they, as the map came down right to the 30th round. FaZe Clan set out on the T side of Cache, where they successfully managed to pull off bombsite executes and secure entry frags. Whilst the performance could not be labelled overly dominant, the team did manage to secure a triple round (9:6) lead, prior to switching to the CT side of the map. Virtus.pro were fired up and started slowly catching up to FaZe Clan in terms of rounds. The score came down to an insanely close 15:14 in favour of FaZe. Unfortunately for the Poles the last round saw a successful B site retake from Aleksi "allu" Jalli and Håvard "rain" Nygaard, one that ultimately secured the semi-final spot for the team.
FaZe Clan return to their practice rooms to prepare for their match against a fired up OpTic Gaming, whilst Virtus.pro analyse the mistakes made over the course of the series.
